Went over to the new shala in town. Not really a shala, per se. A Thai massage place that offers a few Mysore practices per week, and this morning was a led class. Well, kind of led. They put on the SKPJ video of primary and we practiced to that.

It was great to see The British Director and Muscle Man. Also there were a few people I don’t know — a total of 6 of us.

So the verdict is in: practicing with other people pulls me outside of myself and inside of myself at the same time. Distractions and self-consciousness. Not in any significant or disturbing way — I just noticed it. The heat in the room was nice, too.

Having other people around makes you more conscious of what your poses look like, how deep you go into the pose, blah, blah, blah.

Not good or bad. Just different.

After practice we went over to a vegan tea room across the way. Scottsdale is getting so trendy.

Nice to practice with some people, but I have a kind of emotional disconnectedness. No idea why. I guess I like the camaraderie of a shala, but have some… what? Are they emotional battle scars? A weird attachment to independence? Was the dissolution of Mysore practice with Volleyball Guy traumatic? Is it just time for me to practice alone for a while?

Who knows.

I may go back next Sunday. We’ll see.

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3 Responses

hi karen
blah, blah, blah and vegan cupcakes, not bad for a sunday. hehehe. i never understood whahappened with mysore with VBG. did he move out of town? it seems like your olde shala mates are now at this thai massage w/yoga place. i mean, i remember that your motivation for practicing at home was because of having an earlier start at work because of increased responsibilities. or are there still classes with VBG at the rock climbing place?
cheers,
arturo

Mysore practice was cancelled when there weren’t enough people practicing. That was back in November. Volleyball Guy is still in town, though he will be heading to India pretty soon for a vacation. He does a led practice on Saturdays, and a couple of evening led practices at the rock climbing place. No Mysore, though. 😦

hi karen
i see. hmm, sorry. i guess we’re lucky here, although there is one shala closing. it had afternoon mysore classes that didn’t pick up and then weekend mysore classes, but not enough attendance. there are still 4 places with mysore practice in the city, and other in around the bay area.
cheers,
arturo